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How
the Body Works
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Equipping
the Saints How the Body Works - Unity in Diversity How the Body Works - A Look at the Gifts How the Body Works - Love is the Best |
1
Corinthians 12:4-6 There
is Unity Notice
the progression of Paul's writing:
Don't miss the significance of this. The Spirit gives and administers the gifts. Jesus is Lord, yet he came not to be served, but to serve. Jesus is our example, and His example is service. It is God who does the working through us. It is His purpose that we need to seek. The Spirit gives the gifts as He will, so by the example of Jesus we can service one another, so that God can do His work in the Body.
We need to be in agreement with God and in His Word.
We need to desire to glorify God in the same way that Jesus did.
Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit so that He could be intimately
involved in the process. All
of the power of the Triune God is seen at work in the giving of gifts,
service and works. All of
these things are under His feet, and are a part of His awesome will.
It is HE who has given these things to his people, and it's for a
purpose. That purpose is
His Glory.
(Ephesians 1:18-23) The
late Donald Gray Barnhouse rightly observed.
“We have failed to recognize the central authority of the
Holy Spirit. Thus, both at
home and abroad we have concentrated on strengthening our organizations,
all the while so grieving the Holy Spirit in ourselves and so quenching
Him in others that He has allowed us to continue in our fancied
strength, which is indeed terrible weakness.
To solve the problem, we must bow low before Him and acknowledge
our sin. Then the Holy
Spirit will speak within us once more; then He shall manifest Himself in
great power; then shall the church know the glorious strength of her
youth.” (1
Thessalonians 4:19) The
Spirit has gifted us all. We
must be willing to receive His gifts. As James rightly observed, “faith without deeds is
dead.” The statement,
“there is nothing we can do, God does it all,” is biblically
inaccurate. God empowers us
in order to bear fruit (John
15). It is not possible
to bear fruit doing nothing. He
desires our lives to be above the common, full of meaning and purpose.
(John 10:10) We need to allow the work of the Spirit in
our lives, and not grieve the Spirit by quenching His work.
(Ephesians 4:14-16). “There
are a lot of Christians who claim to have great faith in God but are
spiritually lethargic and don't do anything. Faith without action is not
faith; it's dead, meaningless (James 2:17, 18)! If it isn't expressed,
it isn't faith. In order to believe God and His Word, we must do what He
says. If you don't do what He says, you don't really believe Him. Faith
and action are inseparable. "Sadly, one of the common pictures of the church today is of a group of people with an assumed faith but little action. We treat the church as if it's a hospital. We get together to compare wounds and hold each other's hands, yearning for Jesus to come take us away. It’s
true that Jesus came to heal and bind up wounds.
(Luke 4:18) But
right after Jesus took that scroll and set it down the people of His
hometown were ready to throw him off a cliff!
Why? Because Jesus
was not all about making people comfortable.
He was about making them whole so that they could help in
fulfilling His mission. His
mission had eternal scope. “The church is not a hospital; it's a military outpost under orders to storm the gates of hell. Every believer is on active duty, called to take part in fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19, 20). Thankfully the church has an infirmary where we can minister to the weak and wounded, and that ministry is necessary. But our real purpose is to be change agents in the world, taking a stand, living by faith, and accomplishing something for God. You can say you believe God and His Word. But if you are not actively involved in His plan, are you really a mature believer?” ~Neil Anderson "Now
to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common
good." (1 Corinthians 12:7)
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